It took 16 years for smartphones to reach the 1 billion mark. The Nokia Communicator, a device that first launched in 1996, is widely viewed as the first smartphone to hit store shelves. Since then, a host of smartphone makers have jumped into the fray.

"Nokia remained a dominant force in smartphones for over a decade until the arrival of Apple's iconic iPhone in 2007," Strategy Analytics senior analyst Scott Bicheno said today in a statement. "The iPhone revolutionized smartphone design and it catalyzed industry growth."

Neil Mawston, Strategy Analytics' executive director, estimates that one in seven people around the world owned a smartphone during the third quarter. However, he noted that penetration is still "relatively low," creating a huge market opportunity for vendors.

"Most of the world does not yet own a smartphone and there remains huge scope for future growth, particularly in emerging markets such as China, India and Africa," Mawston said today in a statement. "The first billion smartphones in use worldwide took 16 years to reach, but we forecast the next billion to be achieved in less than three years, by 2015."

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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
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